Review written for Manchester Evening News 22 March 2015

CONCERT HALL OFFICIAL OPENING CONCERT Royal Northern College of Music

 

THERE have been some thrilling events in the recent story of the Royal Northern College of Music, but the official re-opening of the concert hall, resplendent now with its galleries, new lighting and new floor, was one of the greatest I’ve witnessed.

The 10-minute standing ovation at the end of Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ symphony reflected not just the fact that they’d done something they’d never been able to do on such a scale before – stage the huge 90-minute work, with over 200 young musicians taking part, on their own premises – but also that the performance itself was magnificently accomplished and (in my case at least) brought a lump to the throat. 

Much of that was down to conductor Jac van Steen, who brought to this quasi-religious symphony a complete personal commitment and passion. In many ways it was the most compelling and affecting performance of it I’ve heard. That’s because he’s one who knows exactly how to handle the young musical thoroughbreds who populate the RNCM stable. Cool head and warm heart is the secret: give them clear orders and they’ll follow you to heaven and back.

From the electric opening, with ruggedly articulated, gloriously responsive and romantically lyrical string playing, it was clear it would be a very special evening. The brass were disciplined and warm in chorus, the woodwind piquant and pastoral – the final plucked string notes of the movement precisely together. 

The sentimental second movement was played with remarkable delicacy from strings, wind soloists and horns, and as grandfatherly as you could wish for. The third’s surreal dance had a delightfully springy rhythm, deriving from the flick of van Steen’s wrist and his clarity of gesture. He balanced every full texture, even the loudest, most blaring discord.  

The Urlicht fourth movement introduced mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly’s wonderful solo voice, peerless in this devout, serene meditation. She was to join with soprano Jane Irwin and all available forces in the paradise-storming finale, where the previously off-stage brass and the RNCM Chorus high in the centre gallery brought the crowning glories to Mahler’s vision of new life for the dead. Jane Irwin’s voice floated like a wisp of incense, and the peroration was as climactic as it could be.

This was also a test of the hall’s new acoustic, which it passed with distinction. Occasionally hard with big sounds before, it’s lost none of its intimacy but gained a new dimension. 

***** 

Robert Beale